Gaseous fuel mixture



Patented Dec. 22, 1942 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE v p 2,305,152 I it Gaseous FUEL MIXTURE Samuel Barry White, London, England, assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of two-thirds to Albert Stuart Allen, London, England, and one-third to Byron D. Kuth 2 Claims.

This invention relates to gaseous fuel mixtures particularly adapted when used with oxygen for the purpose of welding and heating metals, for the preheating of metals in cutting operations, for case hardening of metals, for metal spraying. for lead burning, for the working of hard glass and the like.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide a gaseous fuel for use in combination with oxygen for the purpose of cutting metals the said gaseous fuel comprising a mixture of a as havin ume of the mixture.

The invention has for its object to provide a comparatively cheap and improved gaseous fuel mixture by using ordinary coal or natural gas which is readily obtainable to be used in a man- I ner and for similar purposes as acetylene is used.

According to the invention, a gaseous fuel such as coal or natural gas is provided andcomprises a gas of low calorific value such as coal or natural gas admixed with a small quantity of propane or butane or propane and butane and ether in not materially less than propane or butane or propane and butane one cubic foot or part to .375 cubic foot or part of ether in sufilcient quantities to increase the calorific value of the coal or natural gas not materially less than The proportions of the mixture of propane or butane or propane and butane to the ether is from 1 to 1.75 of the propane or butane or propane and butane mixture to from .375 .to .65 of ether. A sufilcient quantity of propane or butane or propane and butane with ether in the proportions stated can be added to the coal or natural gas until the calorific value of the cooler natural gas mixture has been increased substantially from 20 to It is the nature of the invention that when the gases are mixed in the proportions stated and in the quantities specified, the following results, when the mixture of fuel gas is burned in the presence of oxy en, are obtainedz-the flame temperature of the gas is increased, the high ignition point of the coal or natural gas is lowcred materially, and the propagation of the flame is substantially reduced.

In Great Britain February 17,

The invention thus provides a cheapgaseous fuel which can be used in ordinary blow pipes and burners for practically all the purposes for which more expensive fuel gases such as acetylene and hydrogen are now used.

According to the invention, the action of the.

propane or butane or propane and butane and ether when admixed with the coal or natural gas in the proportions hereinbefore stated and claimed permits a material saving in time and in oxygen for a given work as compared to the untreated raw coal or natural gas.

The invention contemplates the use of ordinary or commercial propane and butane. Small traces of propylene, pentane, 0r hexane or mixtures of any of them may be present in the. mixture. While ordinary commercial or ethyl ether is preferred, methyl or synthetic ether or mixtures of any of these may be used.

For the purposes contemplated in this invention, the coal or natural gas may be delivered in pipes to the blow pipe under sufiicient pressure to the nozzle according to the nature of the work to be performed. The propane or butane or pro-.

- pane and butane and ether mixture may be mixed for convenience in cylinders which are Joined to the coal or natural gas supply prior to the burning with oxygen at the end of the nozzle or burner. A measuring or proportioning device of the usual type controls the proportions admixed with the coal or natural gas. The propane or butane or propaneand butane and ether may be separately introduced or admixed with the coal or natural gas in a like manner.

The following is given as an example of the lower range or 20% increase on the assumption that one cubic foot of coal'or natural as equals 500 British thermal units per cubic foot:

Then 1 cubic foot propane-butane mixture- 2,500 B. t. u. .375 cubic foot ether 1,200 B. t. u.

m 3,700 n. t. 'u. Example of a mixture of the lower range:

.a Cubic feet Coal or natural gas. 37 Propane or propane and butan l Ether I 1375 As regards the higher range of 25% increase I the following example may .be quoted:

a constant and dependable intensity of the name without variation thereof.

It has been ascertained that lesser proportions than contemplated by this invention are inefiective while larger proportions than the maxidirectly with mum specified herein provide no additional advantages.

What I claim is:

1. A gaseous fuel to be used with oxygenqn a blow pipe, comprising a gas of low calorific value of the group consisting 01' coal gas, natural gas, and illuminating gas, admixed vith propane and ether in substantially th following proportions: one part of propane to .375 part of ether and in quantity to increase the calorific value of the gas to not materially less than 20%.

2. A gaseous fuel as defined in claim 1, wherein the described proportional mixture is utilized in part to increase the calorific value or the illuminating gas.

SAMUEL HARRY WHITE. 

